Searched into the origins of the
Buddhas' pure lands,
And the qualities of those lands and their men and devas;
He then established the supreme, incomparable Vow;
He made the great Vow rare and all-encompassing.

In five kalpas of profound
thought, he embraced this Vow,
Then resolved again that his Name be heard throughout the ten quarters.
Everywhere he casts light immeasurable, boundless,
Unhindered, unequaled, light-lord of all brilliance,

The Name embodying the Primal Vow is the act of true
settlement,
The Vow of entrusting with sincere mind is the cause of birth;
We realize the equal of enlightenment and supreme nirvana
Through the fulfillment of the Vow of attaining nirvana without fail.

Sakyamuni Tathagata appeared in this world
Solely to teach the ocean-like Primal Vow of Amida;
We, an ocean of beings in an evil age of five defilements,
Should entrust ourselves to the Tathagata's words of truth.

When the one thought-moment of joy arises,
Nirvana is attained without severing blind passions;
When ignorant and wise, even grave offenders and slanders of the
dharma, all alike turn and enter SHINJIN,
They are like waters that, on entering the ocean, become one in taste
with it.

The light of compassion that
grasps us illumines and protects us always;
The darkness of our ignorance is already broken through;
Still the clouds and mists of greed and desire, anger and hatred,
Cover as always the sky of true and real SHINJIN.

But though light of the sun is
veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.
When one realizes SHINJIN, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,
One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.

All foolish beings, whether good or evil,
When they hear and entrust to Amida's universal Vow,
Are praised by the Buddha as people of vast and excellent understanding;
Such a person is called a pure white lotus.

The masters of India in the west, who explained the teaching
in treatises,
And the eminent monks of China and Japan,
Clarified the Great Sage's true intent in appearing in the world,
And revealed that Amida's Primal Vow accords with the nature of beings.

Proclaiming the unexcelled Mahayana teaching,
He would attain the stage of joy and be born in the land of happiness.
Nagarjuna clarifies the hardship on the overland path of difficult
practice,
And leads us to entrust to the pleasure on the waterway of easy
practice.

He teaches that the moment one thinks on Amida's Primal Vow,
One is naturally brought to enter the stage of the definitely settled;
Solely saying the Tathagata's Name constantly,
One should respond with gratitude to the universal Vow of great
compassion.

Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, composing a treatise, declares
That he takes refuge in the Tathagata of unhindered light,
And that relying on the sutras, he will reveal the true and real
virtues,
And make widely known the great Vow by which we leap crosswise beyond
birth-and-death.

He discloses the mind that is single so that all beings be
saved
By Amida's directing of virtue through the power of the Primal Vow.
When a person turns and enters the great treasure ocean of virtue,
Necessarily he joins Amida's assembly;

And when he reaches that lotus-held world,
He immediately realizes the body of suchness or dharma-nature.
Then sporting in the forests of blind passions, he manifests
transcendent powers;
Entering the garden of birth-and-death, he assumes various forms to
guide others.

Turning toward the dwelling of Master T'an-luan, the Emperor
of Liang
Always paid homage to him as a bodhisattva.
Bodhiruci, master of the Tripitaka, gave T'an-luan the Pure Land
teachings,
And T'an-luan, burning his Taoist scriptures, took refuge in the land
of bliss.

In his commentary on the treatise of Bodhisattva Vasubandhu,
He shows that the cause and attainment of birth in the fulfilled land
lie in the Vow.
Our going and returning, directed to us by Amida, come about through
Other Power;
The truly decisive cause is SHINJIN.

When a foolish being of delusion and defilement awakens
SHINJIN,
He realizes that birth-and-death is itself nirvana;
Without fail he reaches the land of immeasurable light
And universally guides sentient beings to enlightenment.

Tao-ch'o determined how difficult it is to fulfill the Path
of Sages,
And reveals that only passage through the Pure Land gate is possible
for us.
He criticizes self-power endeavor in the myriad good practices,
And encourages us solely to say the fulfilled Name embodying true
virtue.

With kind concern he teaches the three characteristics of
entrusting and non-entrusting,
Compassionately guiding all identically, whether they live when the
dharma survives as but form, when in its last stage, or when it has
become extinct.
Though a person has committed evil all his life, when he encounters the
Primal Vow,
He will reach the world of peace and realize the perfect fruit of
enlightenment.

Shan-tao alone in his time clarified the Buddha's true intent;
Sorrowing at the plight of meditative and non meditative practicers and
people of grave evil,
He reveals that Amida's light and Name are the causes of birth.
When the practicer enters the great ocean of wisdom, the Primal Vow,

He receives the diamondlike mind
And accords with the one thought-moment of joy; whereupon,
Equally with Vaidehi, he acquires the threefold wisdom
And is immediately brought to attain the eternal bliss of dharma-nature.

Genshin, having broadly elucidated the teachings of
Sakyamuni's lifetime,
Wholeheartedly took refuge in the land of peace and urges all to do so;
Ascertaining that minds devoted to single practice are profound, to
sundry practice, shallow,
He sets forth truly the difference between the fulfilled land and the
transformed land.

The person burdened with extreme evil should simply say the
Name:
Although I too am within Amida's grasp,
Passions obstruct my eyes and I cannot see him;
Nevertheless, great compassion is untiring and illumines me always.

Master Genku, well-versed in the Buddha's teaching,
Turned compassionately to foolish people, both good and evil;
Establishing in this remote land the teaching and realization that are
the true essence of the Pure Land way,
He transmits the selected Primal Vow to us of the defiled world:

The mahasattvas and masters who spread the sutras
Save the countless beings of utter defilement and evil.
With the same mind, all people of the present, whether monk or lay,
Should rely wholly on the teachings of these venerable masters.

Optional: Ring Bell Two Times

NOTE:
Shoshinge is traditionally followed
by the chanting of six sets of
Nembutsu and Wasan by Shinran Shonin. Wasan are poems composed by
Shinran
Shonin, which explain his teaching in a simple form. There are three
collections of Wasan. Here, the first six of
these poems are recited. It concludes with the "Ekoku,"
written by Shan Tao
(Zendo in Japanese, 618-681 CE), which expresses
the aspiration that all beings benefit by the truth and virtue of the
dharma.

Namu Amida Butsu..(say as many
times as you like)The cloud of light is unhindered, like open sky;
There is nothing that impedes it.
Every being is nurtured by this light,
So take refuge in Amida, the one beyond conception.

Namu Amida Butsu..(say as many times as you
like)The Buddha's light is supreme in radiance;
Thus Amida is called "Buddha, Lord of Blazing Light."
It dispels the darkness of the three courses of affliction,
So take refuge in Amida, the great one worthy of offerings.